Year 2 students

CRAIG BRADSHAW was born in the Colchester area and attended Colchester Royal Grammar School before studying at Colchester Sixth Form College. He went on to play poker professionally before moving into poker journalism. He now works to produce content for a growing poker website. His other interests include writing poetry, poker, boxing, running, chess, fishing and football. He blogs at craigbradshawjournalist.wordpress.com

SHAKIYAH BRANCH holds an American passport but considers herself a citizen of the world. Born in Japan and raised in America, she graduated in Germany and now calls England her temporary home as she is currently undertaking a journalism degree. With her degree she hopes to continue to travel and inspire people. She is a proud feminist and aims to bring more awareness to human rights issues. Follow her journey on her blog at thesocialbeehive.wordpress.com

KLAUDIA FIOR

ELLIE FOX was born in 1998 in Wickford, Essex and has lived there ever since. She has endured and enjoyed work placements at Heart radio and the Echo newspaper. She is interested in equestrian and fashion journalism and hopes to specialise in one or theother. She blogs at foxreflections.wordpress.com

JOSH GAVIGAN-STATHAM

ELLA GERMAN was born in 1998 in Bexley, south-east London and went to school in Lee. She took A-levels in Drama, English Literature and Media Studies and is particularly interested in fashion and lifestyle journalism, as well as local reporting. Here website is ellajournalist.wordpress.com

ELL HOLMYARD was born in west London in 1998. She did her A-Levels at Bishop Ramsey Church of England School in Ruislip, where she studied English Language and Literature, History and Photography. She would like to work as a radio broadcaster and has work placements with BBC Essex and the Essex Chronicle. A keen swimmer, she has competed in galas and synchronised swimming competitions. Her website is ellsonline.wordpress.com

PAULA JAKIMA was born in Sanok, Poland in 1998. She attended school in Slough and college in Windsor where she did A-levels in Media Studies, English, Sociology and Psychology. She enjoys creative writing and is an LGBT and women’s rights activist. Her website is paulajakima.wordpress.com

TOM LARSEN-WRIGHT is 19 and from Ipswich. He works at BBC Essex on Saturdays and previously did work experience at the Colchester Gazette. Tom is passionate about sport and music, but has a keen interest in journalism as a whole. You can find his work at tomlarsenwright.wordpress.com

ROSS MCDERMOTT was born in Scotland in 1997 but raised in Dagenham from the age of four. He has an interest in writing, movies, playing the guitar and music (he’s particularly keen on Arctic Monkeys and Ed Sheeran). He has done work experience at BBC Look East and the Essex Chronicle. His website is rossmcdermottjournalism.wordpress.com

ALEEZA SHAH was born in Medway, Kent in 1998. She took Media Studies at A-Level alongside English and Philosophy, Ethics and Law. She enjoyed work experience at BBC Look East in her first year. Aleeza has always dreamed of becoming an international correspondent and is on the journey to getting there. Check out her blog at aleezashah.wordpress.com

ANDREEA SZASZ was born in Brasov, Romania in 1997 and decided to come to the UK to study journalism because of her enthusiasm for writing and speaking with different people. She was previously doing work experience at BBC Essex and the Essex Chronicle. She is keen on travelling and hearing new stories. She blogs at andreeaszaszjournalist.wordpress.com

GEORGE WARE was born in Edinburgh in 1998. Spending the majority of his life in South Yorkshire, he studied a broad range of A-Levels, taking Physics, IT, English and History. George has had work experience at Heart Radio Essex and the Colchester Gazette and he hopes to follow his interests of sport and politics in a career in journalism. His website is thecenturionnews.wordpress.com and his email gw16101@essex.ac.uk

HOPE WOOLSTON was born in 1998 in Colchester, Essex, and has lived and studied there ever since. She has a strong interest in broadcast journalism and has had work placements at TV and radio stations. In the future, she would love to work as a presenter for TV or radio and is particularly interested in lifestyle programmes. She has always had a passion for dance and performing arts, something she hopes will always continue. Her website is hopewoolstonjournalist.wordpress.com